Playing with the city: street art and videogames

  • Israel Márquez Postdoc Researcher - Open University of Catalonia (UOC) Juan de la Cierva Research Grant Program
  • Susana Tosca IT University of Copenhagen
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5209/ARIS.51892
Keywords: Street art, graffiti, videogames, play, city

Abstract

In this paper we introduce and describe the phenomenon of videogame street art as a specific kind of street art. We consider its materiality and significance, and conceptualize it in the light of a double manifestation of play: the playful appropriation of the city by the artist and the fact that Street art encapsulates the act of playing videogames in a visual form. Digital play spills out of our computer screens and occupies the urban space with the explicit intention of involving spectators, who are invited to play in symbolic ways that actualize nostalgic memories of gaming and can be related to a more general “play turn” in our culture.

 

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Author Biographies

Israel Márquez, Postdoc Researcher - Open University of Catalonia (UOC) Juan de la Cierva Research Grant Program

Israel Márquez is Ph.D in Information Sciences-Journalism Studies from the Complutense University of Madrid (Extraordinary Ph.D Award 2012/2013) and Master in Information and Knowledge Society from the Open University of Catalonia. He has been visiting researcher at the School of Literature, Media & Communication (Georgia Institute of Technology) and at the IT University of Copenhagen. He is now a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Open University of Catalonia. His research interests include virtual worlds, computer games, digital aesthetics, popular culture, and screen studies.

 

Susana Tosca, IT University of Copenhagen

Susana Tosca is Associate Professor at the IT University of Copenhagen, Denmark, and member of the Culture and Communication research group. She is currently teaching the Digital Aesthetics Course (BA) and its specialization on Creative Digital Practice (MA), at ITU. Her research interests include digital storytelling, transmediality, computer games, digital aesthetics, hypertext, popular culture and IT in the primary school.

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Published
2016-11-30
How to Cite
Márquez I. y Tosca S. (2016). Playing with the city: street art and videogames. Arte, Individuo y Sociedad, 29(1), 105-120. https://doi.org/10.5209/ARIS.51892
Issue
Vol. 29 No. 1 (2017)
Section
Articles

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